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The Mayoral Race:

On Monday:

On Monday, January 18, I was live at The WTTW Mayoral Forum covering the Chicago Mayoral Race. 5 candidates appeared at this event (in the order they appear on the ballot): Bill Daley, Suzana Mendoza, Toni Preckwinkle, Willie Wilson and Paul Vallas. All of the candidates brought their issues to the table and the way they like to approach them. They’re all in attack mode in the final days. The question voters are asking is:

Who really matters?

It depends on how you define it. In terms of financial contributions, Bill Daleyis leading by a lot. According to the mandatory quarterly report campaigns have to release, Daley has raised just over $8.65 million in funds after announcing his bid in mid September. A relatively large portion of these dollars have come from the richest man in Illinois: Ken Griffin, who “after careful consideration” endorsed Daley stating he agreed with him on many of the solutions to Chicago’s problems.

Second in financials is Toni Preckwinkle who has raised more than $4.5 million dollars in campaign funds. The Cook County Board President has faced widespread criticism about her relationship with former Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios who was involved in property tax scheme he oversaw which seemed to benefit the rich and discriminate the poor. Of course, Berrios is no longer in office; he has since been replaced by Fritz Kaegi, but Preckwinkle continues to stay loyal to retired Berrios and continues to receive criticism for it! This stance, specifically is even brought up in the forum.

Third, fourth and fifth are Gery Chico, Jerry Joyce Jr, and Susana Mendoza; one of which was featured at The WTTW Forum. Chico preaches he wants to bring new ideas to increase public safety and foster economic security. Joyce, who seems to be slacking in the polls at the moment says his main goal is to make neighborhoods safer and better. And, finally, Suzana Mendoza, the Illinois Comptroller says she wants to make Chicago a better job-creator by prioritizing education and encouraging entrepreneurship.

The Jay Doherty Podcast will have full coverage of The Election Tuesday night.

Jussie Smollett Charged with Felony, Released on $100,000 Bond

Where things stand:

Empire Actor Jussie Smollett has recently been arrested for filing a false report about a hate crime, according to The Chicago Police Department. The CPD informed the media that he was taken into custody just after 05:00 CST.

He is charged with “disorderly conduct” for perpetuating the false hate crime. In the original report, Smollett alleged that two men, each wearing black attacked him and yelled racial and homophobic slurs while both wearing Trump Campaign Apparel.

After three weeks of conflicting and urgent reports from prosecutors and the police department, the final update has been given Thursday morning. Anthony Guglielmi, Chief Communications Officer for The Chicago Police Department, said the State’s Attorney office had approved a felony charge of disorderly conduct against Smollett.

Later, it was also made public that Smollett issued a payment to these men for $3,500.

CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson said it best:

“First, Smollett attempted to gain attention by sending a false letter that relied on racial, homophobic, and political language. When that didn’t work, Smollett paid $3,500 to stage this attack and drag Chicago’s reputation through the mud in the process… and why? This stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary. So, he concocted a story about being attacked.”

R. Kelly Charged with 10 Counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault

Robert S. Kelly is a famous singer/songwriter’s name who has recently been embroiled in legal battles related to sexual assault. Ever since the 1990’s, allegations of sexual misconduct have been a large part of R Kelly’s life.

According to DNA that Chicago prosecutors obtained, R&B singer R. Kelly sexually abused at least four people since the late 1990’s; three of which were under the legal age of consent.

Historically, there have been many allegations made against the singer including a large range of child/sexual abuse. Finally, these charges seem to be catching up to him

Saturday, Judge John Lyke set Mr. Robert S. Kelly’s bail to a total of $1 million dollars; $250,000 for each count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. A total of four counts of this crime have been leveled against Kelly. This was his first appearance in court since turning himself in at 6:00 AM on Friday.

If Mr. Kelly pays the money, his passport will also be terminated and all contact with anyone under the age of 18 is strictly prohibited.

As it stands right now, Kelly is most likely consulting his legal team about what may happen when he returns to court today.

My name is Jay Doherty. I am currently a freshman in high school and I create The Jay Doherty Podcast, The JDRC Politics Podcast, write online for The Doherty Files newspaper, and oversee a multi-terabyte locally stored server array called Genisys. Follow me on Twitter @jddjr777 for the latest coverage of world and national news.